Communication terminal, communication apparatus, and communication system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9998966-B2
Application number	US-201715445448-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 28, 2017
Priority date	Mar 9, 2016
Publication date	Jun 12, 2018
Grant date	Jun 12, 2018

Abstract

A communication terminal includes visible-light reception circuitry, handover control circuitry and millimeter-wave communication circuitry. The visible-light reception circuitry, which in operation, receives visible-light data from a first communication apparatus. The handover control circuitry, which in operation, sets the first communication apparatus as a handover destination in accordance with the visible-light data. The millimeter-wave communication circuitry, which in operation, performs communication using a millimeter-wave band frequency with the first communication apparatus.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A communication terminal comprising:
visible-light reception circuitry, which in operation, receives visible-light data from a first communication apparatus;
handover control circuitry, which in operation, sets the first communication apparatus as a handover destination in accordance with the visible-light data; and
millimeter-wave communication circuitry, which in operation; performs communication using a millimeter-wave band frequency with the first communication apparatus.

2. The communication terminal according to claim 1 ,
wherein when the communication terminal is connected to a second communication apparatus after the visible-light reception circuitry receives the visible-light data;
the handover control circuitry generates a handover request indicating a request for performing handover from the second communication apparatus to the first communication apparatus, and
the millimeter-wave communication circuitry transmits the handover request to the second communication apparatus.

3. The communication terminal according to claim 1 ,
wherein when the communication terminal is not connected to a second communication apparatus after the visible-light receiver receives the visible-light data,
the handover controller generates a handover request indicating a request for performing handover from the second communication apparatus to the first communication apparatus, and
the millimeter-wave communication device transmits the handover request to the first communication apparatus.

4. The communication terminal according to claim 1 ,
wherein the handover control circuitry extracts an identifier indicating the first communication apparatus from the visible-light data and sets the first communication apparatus as the handover destination.

5. The communication terminal according to claim 1 ,
wherein when the visible-light reception circuitry receives the visible-light data, the handover control circuitry judges that line-of-sight communication using the millimeter-wave band frequency with the first communication apparatus is allowed.

6. A communication apparatus comprising:
visible-light transmittion circuitry, which in operation, transmits visible-light data;
handover control circuitry, which in operation, issues a connection instruction for establishing connection with a first communication terminal receiving the visible-light data; and
millimeter-wave communication circuitry, which in operation, performs communication using a millimeter-wave band frequency with the first communication terminal in accordance with the connection instruction.

7. The communication apparatus according to claim 6 ,
wherein when the handover control circuitry receives a handover request from a second communication terminal connecting with the communication apparatus, the handover control circuitry disconnects the second communication terminal.

8. The communication apparatus according to claim 6 ,
wherein when the handover control circuitry receives a handover request from the first communication terminal, the handover control circuitry establishes the connection with the first communication terminal.

9. The communication apparatus according to claim 6 ,
wherein a communication range for the visible-light data is set approximately identical to a communication range of the communication using the millimeter-wave band frequency.

10. A communication system comprising:
a plurality of communication apparatus;
a communication terminal; and
a management device,
the plurality of communication apparatus including a first communication apparatus and a second communication apparatus, and the first communication apparatus comprising:
visible-light transmittion circuitry, which in operation; transmits visible-light data;
first handover control circuitry, which in operation, issues a connection instruction for establishing connection with the communication terminal receiving the visible-light data; and
first millimeter-wave communication circuitry, which in operation, performs communication using a millimeter-wave band frequency with the communication terminal in accordance with the connection instruction,
the communication terminal comprising:
visible-light reception circuitry, which in operation, receives the visible-light data from the first communication apparatus;
second handover control circuitry, which in operation, sets the first communication apparatus as a handover destination in accordance with the visible-light data; and
second millimeter-wave communication circuitry, which in operation, performs the communication using the millimeter-wave band frequency with the first communication apparatus,
the management device comprising:
third handover control circuitry, which in operation, acquires authentication information for the communication terminal from the second communication apparatus connecting with the communication terminal and notifies the first communication apparatus of the authentication information.

11. The communication system according to claim 10 ,
wherein the third handover control circuitry receives a handover request from the first communication apparatus and transmits, to the first communication apparatus, a reply to the handover request.

12. The communication system according to claim 10 ,
wherein a communication range for the visible-light data is set approximately identical to a communication range of the communication using the millimeter-wave band frequency.

13. The communication system according to claim 10 ,
wherein when the visible-light reception circuitry receives the visible-light data, the second handover control circuitry judges that a line-of-sight communication path for the communication with the first communication apparatus is ensured.

14. The communication system according to claim 11 ,
wherein when the handover request does not include the authentication information, the third handover control circuitry requests the second communication apparatus for the authentication information.

Assignees

• Panasonic Ip Corp America

Inventors

• Morita Junichi
• Shirakata Naganori

Classifications

• H04B10/112

  Line-of-sight transmission over an extended range · CPC title

• H04B7/00 Primary

  Radio transmission systems, i.e. using radiation field (H04B10/00, H04B15/00 take precedence) · CPC title

• H04B10/11

  Arrangements specific to free-space transmission, i.e. transmission through air or vacuum · CPC title

• H04B10/116 Primary

  Visible light communication · CPC title

• H04W84/12

  WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks] · CPC title